Take me to your hazy skies
by tibuki
Summary: Two pirates - a tiger and a monkey, fire and ice - and the gravity that pulls them in. (Collection of short ZoLu drabbles.)
1. I know you will

He's not entirely sure how it happened. One second he's taking down an annoying marine and the next he's feeling a sharp pain in his back and tumbling over the railing, but when he realizes what's happening it's already too late. He hears Nami's shout for a fraction of a second before the waves swallow him whole and render him forceless. The swirling of the water dies down and he soon finds himself sinking calmly as he watches the sunlight hit the waves, giving him a strange feeling of peace. Falling overboard has never quite been the same, not ever since that first time after Shells town, and he doesn't panic because he knows that it's just a matter of time –

He catches a glint of gold and spreads out his arms for the warm body to slide between them, and he smiles as an arm wraps snugly around his waist in a way it never does above the surface (he wishes it did, though).


	2. Wash (the pain away)

The sky is pouring, drowning every other sound in the town with its noise. A ship is docked at the small port, void of any life besides the soft thumping of a sledgehammer coming from somewhere below the flooding grassy deck.

On a small cliff near the docked ship, a boy is standing in the rain, staring up at the pouring heavens.

"You're going to catch a cold like that."

He doesn't move, and the other sighs before walking next to him, leaning on the railing.

His eyes never leaving the skies above, the smaller pirate lifts a hand to run it over the scar on his exposed chest, the grim reminder of what he lost three years ago ( _I wasn't strong enough_ ), as well as the resolve of his worst enemy ( _you're next_ ).

The boy sighs and closes his eyes, letting the droplets soak his skin, wishing they could wash the pain and sorrow away.

The swordsman tilts his head to glance at his captain, and seeing Luffy so melancholic and unlike himself makes his insides twist. And though he wants to tell him it will get better in time and nothing hurts forever, he doesn't, because promising a less painful future won't make him hurt any less in the present.

And as much as he wants to give him a moment to himself, he has a promise made in a land of sand to keep to the one person his captain is mourning (take care of my little brother).

And so Zoro straightens, his arm brushing against a colder and smaller one, and says,

"You're not alone. Not anymore."

And Luffy thinks of the nights spent in pain and silence without the lullaby of a violin and the soft snores of sleeping pirates, but the warmth beside him is real and he lets out a breath, his chest feeling lighter than it has in a while.

Luffy opens his eyes, and he lifts a hand to shield them from the light that shines through the slowly dissipating clouds, listening to the voices and laughter of his crew coming back from the town as he says,

"I know."


	3. I'll follow

It wasn't like he didn't know what that feeling was. It was more like he felt – wanted to believe – that if he ignored it long enough it would just disappear. He didn't think it was bad, no, he simply thought that it would be better if he just got over it.

Because _he_ didn't feel that way. Because acting like it didn't exist was easier than telling him and dealing with whatever happened afterwards.

Because _he_ was the epitome of freedom, the perfect symbol of joy, and adventure, and life, and Zoro could never claim him that way because Luffy was just that unreachable.

* * *

He lifts a hand to catch a snowflake in it, and it settles in his palm for just a second before melting and leaving nothing but a small drop of moisture on his skin. Soon another follows, and a third, and a fourth, and he's so lulled by the soft dancing of the flakes that he doesn't notice the crunch of footsteps in the snow until the sandal-clad feet appear in his sight of vision.

He doesn't get how he doesn't freeze dressed like that – sandals, shorts and an open jacket because the crew just wouldn't let him leave without at least that – but then again, it's just one of these things that make Luffy, well, Luffy. The boy's looking at him curiously, head tilted to one side with his cheeks and nose tinted pink because of the cold, eyes big and bright, reflecting the snow around them and – no, he's never been one for beauty, that's more like the shitty cook, but still – Zoro thinks he's never seen something quite as pretty.

Luffy smiles briefly and turns around to keep walking, trusting Zoro to follow. And Zoro does, although after a while he stops trying to walk in Luffy's footprints in the ankle-deep snow because they're just that small compared to his own.


	4. Sunrise

Mornings are beautiful on the sea. The sun glides over the horizon slowly, casting golden shadows on the waves and rousing sleeping sailors. The waves are usually gentler – as if the Grand Line itself was waking from its slumber, ending the short rest it granted to its adventurers.

He likes sleeping late, likes waking up to a quiet room and to a served breakfast, but the best days are those when Luffy tumbles in his hammock to tell him about some weird dream he just had, drool dripping down the side of his jaw and hair a nest of dark locks. His dreams never make any sense, much like their dreamer, but Zoro likes to listen to them either way, and Luffy likes the way Zoro plays with his hair when they're laying side by side. Yeah, mornings are pretty cool on a pirate ship.


	5. Even kings do

A/N: *waves angst flag*

* * *

A hand shoots out of the darkness but he's already reeling back, turning around when he hears an all too familiar voice call his name and –

"Shanks."

But the man's not smiling like usual, just staring at him with dark eyes and holding his bloody arm (or what's left of it) and Luffy stops breathing – or maybe he wasn't breathing in the first place – when he hears the next voice. It's a voice that hurts, a voice that he's missed and only ever hears in his dreams, but when he turns around – hope rising up in his chest at the thought of seeing his face, the name leaving his lips like a prayer – his brother's face is shrouded in darkness and all he can see is the gaping hole in his chest.

Something's tugging at his shorts, and he looks down to see a child with blonde hair and –

He wakes up in a cold sweat, breathless and shaking and he flinches back when he sees the figure above him, but he recognizes it as his first mate a second before the familiar hand is carefully brushing his hair out his face. He takes a deep breath, trying to subside his shaking because he doesn't want to worry his crew, doesn't want them to think that a nightmare is all it takes to break him down, and he smiles at Zoro to prove he's alright, but his smile is weak and it makes the swordsman grimace.

Luffy glances around the room to see that his crewmates are all sitting in their bunks and looking at him worriedly, and he thinks he knows why because he said –

" _Ace_."

He chokes and bites his lip - he doesn't want his crew to see him cry, they'll worry to no end - but all he can hear is the child's whisper _it's all your fault_ , and he reaches out to grasp Zoro's forearm with bruising strength to anchor himself. He doesn't need to say anything, though, because Zoro already knows, bending down to hold him gently and shelter him from the world for a minute or two.

* * *

A/N: oops. Anyways, that's all I have for now, thank you for reading! Feedback is very welcome~


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